Circuit boards, also known by the term “printed circuit boards,” are used as carriers for electronic components. Circuit boards are made up of electrically insulating material with electrically conductive connections (strip conductors) adhered thereto. Circuit boards of various quality and price classes are available, depending on the desired or required mechanical, electrical, and thermal stability. Thus, comparatively inexpensive circuit boards made of a base material of epoxy resin and paper (material identifier FR3) may be used. In addition, more heat-resistant circuit boards made of a base material of epoxy resin and glass fiber fabric (material identifier FR4) may be used. Furthermore, flexible circuit boards are known which, for example, are made of polyamide and have a high heat resistance (>300° C.). Circuit boards may bear a conductive layer, generally a copper layer, on one or both sides. Multilayer circuit boards are also known in which additional electrically conductive layers are situated between layers of insulating base material.
Various technologies for manufacturing circuit boards are known from the prior art. Mentioned among others, for example, is the planar technology used for manufacturing semiconductor components and chips, in which the semiconductor material is doped on selected areas of the surface with the aid of diffusion, resulting in planar structures in parallel to the surface. Multiple layers are connected to one another for manufacturing so-called multilayer circuit boards. The connections between the individual layers of multilayer circuit boards are established with vias. Vias are usually implemented by internally metal-plated boreholes in the carrier material of the circuit board.
The electrical conductor structures on circuit boards are generally produced photochemically by appropriately structuring a photoresist, i.e. a photosensitive film. For manufacture in a panel, multiple individual circuit boards are situated next to one another to form a large circuit board, and are thus produced in combination. Lastly, the overall circuit board is separated into individual circuit boards.
Circuit boards have a wide variety of uses, so that virtually any electronic device contains one or multiple circuit boards.
WO 2011/134955 A2 describes a roller bearer system which includes an angle sensor, and a method for installing such a roller bearing system which includes an angle sensor. The angle sensor includes a sensor ring that is connected in a rotatably fixed manner to the outer ring, and a measuring scale that is designed as a metal ring which is eccentric relative to the rotation axis of the roller bearing and connected in a rotatably fixed manner to the inner ring. As a metallic component, the sensor ring includes an annular U-shaped pot core concentric to the rotation axis of the roller bearing. A retaining element made of plastic, which is fastened in a circumferential groove in the outer ring, is used for retaining the pot core and the sensor ring on the outer ring. A support ring made of sheet metal, which strikes against the front side of the outer ring and which is used as an installation aid and represents mechanical protection for the angle sensor, is situated radially outside the retaining element. An annular space for accommodating the sensor ring is formed between the inner lateral surface of the support ring and the retaining element. The sensor ring includes a transmitter coil situated in a plane that is in parallel to the front side of the roller bearing and situated completely within the U profile of the pot core. The transmitter coil is designed as a printed circuit on a multilayer circuit board. Various receiver coils cooperate with the transmitter coil. Each of the receiver coils is partially situated within the U profile of the pot core, and partially outside this U profile. The receiver coils, similarly as for the transmitter coil, are designed as a printed circuit. A signal is transmittable between the transmitter coil and the receiver coil via a magnetic circuit, the transmitter coil being situated within the U-shaped pot core, which forms part of the magnetic circuit. A variable reluctance in the magnetic circuit is indicated via the measuring scale. The metal ring, which acts as a measuring scale, closes the magnetic circuit between the legs of the U-shaped pot core. The described angle sensor is made up of many individual components, which involves complicated manufacture (while maintaining narrow manufacturing tolerances) as well as a complex assembly.